Which to use
“don” is a noun and “dun” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,589
- “don” frequency rank
- #16,344
- “dun” frequency rank
- 17933
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | don | dun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action d’offrir à quelqu’un quelque chose, de lui en abandonner la propriété ou présent qu’on lui fait ainsi. | Marron grisâtre #DAC8AE. |
Where the eye mixes don and dun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses don with dun
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: don is \dɔ̃\ while dun is \dʌn\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - o in “don” becomes u in “dun”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17933, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
don is recorded at frequency rank #1,589, classified as anoun, pronounced \dɔ̃\. dun is at rank #16,344, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dʌn\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 17933, this pair ranks #380,755 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of don vs dun
Shared letters: dn. Private to "don": o. Private to "dun": u.
"don" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "dun" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "don" for "dun" ever safe?
Which is more common, "don" or "dun"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "don" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #380,755 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "don" and "dun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "drunk vs dun". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #380,755 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.